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Cross-departmental collaboration, one of the most salient administrative reforms, has been promoted to resolve cross-jurisdictional administration issues over the previous three decades. Nearly all previous empirical studies have examined the direct impact of cross-departmental collaboration on organizational performance without accounting for the indirect effects of managerial practices. Using data from the Federal Highway Administration, this study develops an integrated structural equation modeling and Bayesian network model used to examine both direct and indirect impacts of cross-departmental collaboration on organizational performance. The structural model indicates that cross-departmental collaboration has a direct effect on organizational performance and indirect effects through its influence on resource acquisition and knowledge creation. The scenario-based simulation suggests the optimal integration of managerial actions to improve agency performance, which is achieved by encouraging cross-departmental collaboration and supporting the knowledge creation process. Finally, implications are provided to present practical managerial actions from the Federal Highway Administration as an exemplar for other highway agencies.

To meet rising energy demands, power plant operations will expand, influencing the interactions between the water–energy nexus and society. However, a major challenge is integration of social dimensions within electricity generation. To address this, we generate a baseline dataset using US public data (2014–2019) from the Energy Information Administration and US Bureau of Labor Statistics. We identify the rate of energy consumed, CO2, SO2 and NOx emissions generated, and water used per MWh net electricity as well as employee wellbeing per unit MW capacity during electricity generation. Rates of energy consumption (MMBtu/MWh) decreased 4.9%, but water consumption and withdrawal (m3/MWh) both increased 0.93% and 0.31%, respectively. Emissions of CO2, SO2 and NOx decreased 22.64%, 75% and 25% MT/MWh, respectively. Thermoelectric cooling withdrawal and consumption is led by natural gas (50.07%, 38.31%), coal (29.61%, 25.07%), and nuclear energies (13.55%, 18.99%). Electric power generation contributes 0.06 injuries–illnesses/TWh and 0.001 fatalities/TWh, of which fossil fuels contributed 70% and 15%, respectively. Fossil fuels led in average annual employment (0.02 employees/MW) with low cost salaries (USD 0.09/MW) likely due to high collective capacity, which is declining. Estimated rates in this study and framework will aid power industry transition and operational decision makers.

Business cases promoting the introduction of digital water metering (DWM) have, to date, focused on a limited number of benefits, especially water savings, metering costs, occupational health and safety (OHS), and deferral of capital works. An earlier study by the authors catalogued 75 possible benefits and developed a taxonomy based on a literature review, interviews and water industry reports. The objective of the present study was to elicit the opinions of Australian water industry experts on the benefits, then use the opinions to form probability distributions which, in future work, could be used to model the value of DWM benefits. The study findings have implications for researchers and practitioners seeking to accurately and stochastically model the benefits of DWM transformation programmes. Thematic analyses on the open ended responses scaled likelihood and estimated value of benefits into comparable units. We found 82% support for the benefits of DWM with only 6% disagreement and 12% non-commital, the savings value of cost of water benefits were predominately expected to range between 5% and 10% and much higher in some individual situations, while charges/operational costs benefits were predominately expected to range between 45% and 100%, and, moreover, we indicated how a risk-based range of project benefit could potentially be calculated. Opportunities for further investigations were identified.

Collaboration between government agencies and communities for sustainable water governance in remote Indigenous communities is espoused as a means to contribute to more equitable, robust, and long-term decision-making and to ensure that water services contribute to broader considerations of physical, social, and economic prosperity. In Australia, the uptake of collaborative water governance in remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island contexts has been slow and few examples exist from which to inform policy and practice. This study identifies barriers to uptake of collaborative sustainable water governance, drawing from qualitative interviews with water practitioners working in remote Indigenous Australia and analysis of key project documentation. Thematic analysis revealed discrete barriers across five key categories: (1) governance arrangements, (2) economic and financial, (3) capacity and skills, (4) data and information, and (5) cultural values and norms, with many barriers identified, unique to the remote Indigenous Australian context. The paper provides insights into how to address these barriers strategically to create transformative and sustainable change for Indigenous communities. The results contribute to the greater body of knowledge on sustainable and collaborative water governance, and they are of relevance for broader water management, policy, and research.

This paper presents a novel five-stage integrated participatory systems modelling (IPSM) approach that can be used for a range of systems dynamics (SD) applications. The IPSM approach was formulated considering the advantages and disadvantages of existing SD modelling approaches, as well as balancing the competing goals of SD model development efficiency and robustness. A key feature of the IPSM approach is that stakeholders are central to each of the five stages of the modelling process from problem scoping, to scenario analysis and strategy implementation recommendations. Each stage of the IPSM approach was demonstrated through a case study of the innovation diffusion process in the Russian Federation construction industry. This highly complex innovation system could only be sufficiently understood using a SD model that was conceptualised, critiqued, codified, tested and utilised, by the relevant actors within that system (i.e., stakeholders). The IPSM approach facilitated the efficient formulation of the SD model for the case study application. The case study SD model simulation results indicate that sufficient government incentives and the active promotion of strong collaborative linkages between construction companies and universities are two key enablers of innovation development in the Russian Federation construction industry.

Drinking water catchments (DWC) are under pressure from point and nonpoint source pollution due to the growing human activities. This worldwide challenge is causing number of adverse effects, such as degradation in water quality, ecosystem health, and other economic and social pressures. Different evaluation tools have been developed to achieve sustainable and healthy drinking water catchments. However, a holistic and strategic framework is still required to adequately consider the uncertainty associated with feasible management remedies of surface water quality in drinking water catchments. A strategic framework was developed to adequately consider the uncertainty associated with management remedies for surface water quality in drinking water catchments. A Fuzzy Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis (FMCDA) approach was embedded into a strategic decision support framework to evaluate and rank water quality remediation options within a typical fixed budget constraint faced by bulk water providers. The evaluation framework consists of four core aspects; namely, water quality, environmental, economic and social, and number of associated quantitative and qualitative criteria and sub-criteria. Final remediation strategy ranking was achieved through the application of the Euclidean Distance by the In-center of Centroids (EDIC).